Environmentally Conscious Scholarly Communication

The environmental benefits of digitization seem to be greatly exaggerated. Not only have we not actually cut down on the amount of paper we use, but our digital technologies are far from green.

In this session, I would like to talk with others about where we might be able to find alternatives to ecologically expensive ways we currently communicate our scholarly work (articles, books, blogs, essays, lectures, conferences …). I am particularly interested in ideas that are not simply substitutes for other ways of working but actually provide additional affordances.

About Stewart Varner

I am a librarian and a bike nerd. As the Digital Scholarship Librarian in the Davis Library at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, I help scholars incorporate technology into their teaching and research. I earned my Ph.D. in American Studies at Emory and my MLIS from North Texas.

One Response to Environmentally Conscious Scholarly Communication

Landscaping crisis in suburban America
America’s suburbia is an ecological nightmare do to the industrialization of landscaping – what once was gardening. And the worst offender is by far the primitive leaf blower. Our communities sound like war zones with landscaping trunks the size of tanks deploying three to eight men armed with landscaping weapons and poison.
The ubiquitous noise is shrill, invasive and chronic. The 100 mph hot CO2 fumes blow toxic particulate matter, animal decay, waste water, fecal matter, mold, tick born disease, pesticides, as well as spreading invasive species and poisons 20 feet into the air which is carried by wind current. The pollutants then rain down on our homes, communities, kids, pets, gardens and schools etc.
And the workers themselves are chronically at high risk for cancer, lyme’s disease, eye and hearing loss, as well as skin, lung and immune system disease.
The hot blown CO2 gas fume kill hundreds of heathy microorganisms, nesting creatures, smaller animals, insects, flora culture and poisons pollen and leaves which is food for larger wildlife. We are contaminating our vegetable gardens and one leaf blower can contaminate up 14 neighborhood homes with toxic dust.
Communities that have banned leaf blowers have found that the work gets done faster and more efficiently. No one is at risk; workers learn to garden which enables self-esteem and a trade rather than standing around running machine engines just to pass an hour and get paid.
It’s a win win win situation.
Let make our suburban areas green again …

I am passing on this information in hope that we will demand a change – Mow Blow Go landscaping routine is barbaric and not acceptable means of keeping America green.
GIVE US A BREAK USE A RAKE